A BERLIN HIGH SCHOOL STUDENT OPEN FORUM SINCE 1924
The
Red ‘n’ Green
222 Memorial Drive Berlin, WI 54923
VOLUME 49, ISSUE 1
FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 30, 2016
Upgrades complete at BHS by
Angie Evans and Caylie Krebs
There were a total of seven different projects that took place throughout the summer. One of the biggest upgrades for the school was the football field. The field was installed this summer with the help of CC Sports Fields and some of the athletes at Berlin. “With the help of donations from the community and the Booster Club, the total amount was around $93-94,000,” Superintendent Bob Eidahl said. The outside is not the only thing that got a new look. The gym was another part of the high school that saw two upgrades. The bleachers have been replaced as well as the scoreboards. “The bleachers were around $93,000,” Eidahl said. “And the scoreboard was about half the cost of replacing the parts of the old scoreboard.” Along with the LED lights that are in the scoreboard, the lights in the hallways were also replaced with brand new LED lighting. The school replaced 228 lights all together at a cost of $58,000. “I really like the new lights in the hall because you can see where you are walking now,” sophomore Isaiah Fredenburg said. Getting the new lights started with a little friendly competition. In 2010, Berlin High School had a contest with Ripon High School to see who could save the most energy. By thinking of ways to save energy, Berlin High School decided to turn off the hall lights during class and only turn them on for passing time. As BHS started to turn off the lights, they realized how much energy and money they were saving and by the end of it, they won and decided to keep doing as they had been.
Berlin High School students help roll out the new sod. -Cost $93,000-$94,000 -Saved $25,000 in labor Photo: J. Marshall
School Grounds employee Halle Leary makes Morning Rush coffee in the brand new coffee shop. School Grounds is selling new frappes and new and improved iced coffee recipes. Photo: B. Meyer The new LED lights save more energy and money being on all day than the old lights just being on during passing time. Eidahl predicts that in the future they will purchase more LED lights for the classrooms. “Over the past six years we have done energy saving projects that have saved the district up to $190,000 each year,” Eidahl said. Along with all of the other upgrades, the district also purchased 400 new Chromebooks coming in at about $275 a piece. Every four years the school rotates Chromebooks and gets rid of old ones. “All of our old equipment either goes on an auction site or someplace where it can be used properly,” Eidahl said. “But, sometimes things just have to be thrown away.” One of the most important upgrades to the students may be the coffee shop, School Grounds, which has some updates such as the new location. The coffee
shop is now in the middle hallway down downstairs in room A112. The coffee shop is newly repainted, but that is not the only improvement. The shop also has a big area where kids can check out Chromebooks to use for homework. Students can
also just go in to hang out with friends or do some studying. “We have some new things planned for this year,” owner Nicole LeDioyt said. “We are serving frappes, a brand new improved ice coffee recipe, and we have a student lounge where kids can chill out and do homework.”
-Cost around $93,000 -Took about four to five days to take out the old bleachers -Took about 7 days to get the new bleachers in
A few sports got new jerseys for this year. The jerseys for the sports teams are on a constant rotation. Models: Seniors Kollin McGregor and Ethan Buttke
Photo: C. Krebs
Photo: A. Evans
Senior Jacob Paulson uses the new Chromebooks. -New Chromebooks rotate every four years. -$275 each Photo: A. Evans
-LED lights are in the scoreboard -The cost is not known, but it is half the amount of fixing the old ones would have been
-New lights are LED -Cost $58,000 all together -The district expects to save $190,000
Photo: C. Krebs
Photo: A. Evans
in This
Issue
-Alumna bikes across the states pg. 3 -Q&A with returning teacher Paul Bell pg. 5
Newsbriefs Key clubbers attend ICON
Senior Key Club members Angie Evans and Lauren Disterhaft attended the International Key Club Convention (ICON) this summer on July 3-10. “At ICON, we attended workshops, traveled around the city where it’s held and met new people from all over the country,” Disterhaft said. They learned many different things at the workshops. “We learned leadership skills, service project ideas and about organizations Key Club is partnered with,” Disterhaft said. “We also learned about global issues like how there is something called the Thirst Project that puts in wells where there is no clean water.” Evans and Disterhaft went the past two years and both said it is very fun and educational.
Alternate school moves back into building
The students in the alternative high school setting, who have been at the Armory for the past few years, are now back in the building. “When we had a contract with the Armory, they were inactive,” at-risk teacher Karyl Hanson said. “Our contract was now voided since the Armory became active again so we had to leave because of security reasons and the government’s needs.” Since the students are now at the high school, it has presented a few challenges. “There have been parts of the transition that have been challenging,” Hanson said. “They have the same temptations as before now that they are back in the same building with students they previously didn’t get along with.” Even with some challenges, it has not made a big difference having the students here. Everything else is still the same. “It’s not all bad, but there are things throughout the day that present challenges,” Hanson said. “Academically, we’re doing the same stuff, but the distractions are more prevelant.”